


Worth the Risk

by Taedae



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Confessions, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, Light Angst, Love, M/M, One Shot, Romance, School, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29419953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taedae/pseuds/Taedae
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and Reki battles with himself over whether or not to confess his love for his best friend. Bonded together as they now are, he can't imagine his life without Langa.  But will coming clean make their bond stronger? Or will it ruin everything they've become?
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki
Comments: 20
Kudos: 176





	Worth the Risk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [venom_for_free](https://archiveofourown.org/users/venom_for_free/gifts).



> **Beta Readers:** [Kailyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KailynMei), [MadamRed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadamRed), [Aurus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurucite)
> 
> For my dearest, most treasured friend. I realized not long ago that I missed our friendaversary (January 7th) and really wanted to do something to mark the occasion. And while Valentine's can be somewhat corny sometimes, I figured it was a pretty decent second-best to the actual day. Thank you so much for two amazing years, and I look forward to many, many more. I love you with all my heart and soul. And I hope this story will make you groan and smile and maybe even roll your eyes a little too 😂 💕 Happy Valentine's Day, sweetheart.

Twenty minutes ago, it had been a good idea. Actually, no. Scratch that. Literally. Pen to paper, the somewhat, maybe, possibly legible scribbles turned into an ink disaster, the page—and desk—narrowly escaping permanent damage in his haste. No. Twenty minutes ago,  _ something _ had been birthed from the bowels of a hormonal teenager hyped up on energy drinks and more determination than a human had any right to possess. But now, as the caffeine high from that morning started to ease, it was most certainly  _ not  _ a good idea.

Reki groaned and sat back in his chair, his head lolling as a hand rubbed over his face. What was he thinking? Writing was not his forte; art was. And yet, as he looked back down at the monstrosity of failed poetry and splotches and caterpillar-like etches attempting to mask the evidence, even the sketches he'd scrawled along the margins seemed to mock him.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go! Granted, he hadn't exactly had a plan going into this and thought of it last minute and maybe trying to wax moving prose to confess his love for his best friend in the middle of math class wasn't the wisest decision. Math wasn't his forte either, so really, he was screwed either way—but that wasn't the point! The point was, it was Valentine's Day, and things were supposed to be perfect because Langa was perfect, and damn it, why was this so hard?!

He might have been more successful if he'd just storyboarded his confession. Or painted it along the new skateboard awaiting his hand. Or if he'd bothered to put any actual effort into planning this whole thing. But ...

Reki never meant to confess.

Why would he? What he had going with Langa was … the best thing that ever happened to him. Their friendship was airtight. They were inseparable. When one inhaled, the other exhaled. When told to 'jump', the other didn't need to ask 'how high', because together, there were no limits. They ebbed and flowed with one another, currents in perfect harmony, no matter which way or how hard the wind blew. Why would he risk that? Reki was naturally optimistic, but even he couldn't bank on Langa returning his affection in full. And what if Langa got all … _weird_ once he knew the truth? If Reki lost his best friend, he'd suffocate. He'd slam headfirst into a glass ceiling. He'd be swept into a hurricane of torment and become nothing more than a wave crashing hopelessly against a cliff's edge.

No. Risks were meant to be taken on four wheels, not on beating hearts.

But it was Valentine's Day, and overcaffeinated Reki was a wee bit punch-drunk. Or maybe he was just influenced by the girls around the school whispering and giggling and squealing about the men they planned to gift chocolates to. But Reki wasn't a girl, he didn't have any chocolates to give because that would have involved a Goddamn  _ plan _ , and apparently, he didn't have more than half a brain cell to work with anyway.

Maybe he should start taking head injuries a bit more seriously.

The bell rang, and Reki startled. Wait, what? Ice-cold terror flooded his gut. No! That wasn't fair! He wasn't ready yet! His heart nearly ripped through his chest, his hands trembled. He tried to collect his materials but ended up dropping his textbook—twice—and his pen somehow rolled across the floor, only to get punted under the teacher's desk as his classmates filed out of the room.

You know what? He didn't need that pen anymore anyway. It was fine. This was fine. He could do this.

He couldn't do this. Was he insane? It was bad enough to risk everything he'd come to live for to begin with, but how could he show Langa the piece of paper where he'd sent his dreams to die?

He stepped into the hall. Something crinkled in his hand. Langa called his name. Oh God! Oh no! He tried to drop the page of nightmares, but he'd crumpled it up the wrong way and the ink stuck to his palm. Just barely swallowing a shriek, Reki flailed his hand, which successfully detached the pitiful not-quite-ball, but now it was on the floor. Shit! Why did he even think putting it there was a good idea? Sweat beaded along the back of his neck as he ducked down to grab it—

“What are you doing?”

Reki's heart stopped. Only to return to its relentless assault against his ribcage a second later. Was the hallway warping? Was breathing supposed to be this difficult? Reki shot up, which was a huge mistake, as he discovered when he  _ oh so casually  _ stumbled into the closest display board. And despite the number of embarrassing falls he'd demonstrated with a board under his feet, the heat that invaded his face now could only be rivalled by the temperatures of hell.

Firm, familiar hands gripped his biceps, steadying him. “Whoa, you okay?”

“Hm? What? Me?” No, dumbass. The other red-head trying to demolish the school single-handedly with his thick skull. Obviously. “Pfff, I'm fine.” Reki leaned against the board, this time on purpose because 'smooth recoveries' was … most definitely not his middle name, and he was absolutely screwed.

Langa blinked. Reki blinked. Langa slowly nodded. Reki crossed his arms and nodded back. But while Langa seemed calm and collected, if not a bit confused, Reki's internal  _ everything _ was rearranging itself as if having all his organs in the right places just wasn't cool anymore.

“You're … fine?”

“Mhmm.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why wouldn't I be?”

“... Because I think you just asked Mr. Ogawa’s display out on a date.”

Cool. Awesome. Langa saw right through him. Of course he did. He always had. Because while plenty of people  _ knew  _ Reki, only Langa really  _ got  _ him. Which is why they could spend hours upon hours, days upon days in each other's company, sometimes in companionable silence, sometimes wrapped up in crazy theories or oddly deep, meaningful conversations. Reki didn't worry often, and yet, the rare times he did, Langa was right there, listening and guiding him through it.

What would he do without this man?

He couldn't do this.

Reki sighed and pushed away from the wall—but his foot nudged something. The letter! It was still on the floor! Except, it wasn't. Because Langa had already bent down and picked it up. Searing coals dropped into Reki's stomach, and he snatched the crumpled page from his friend's hands.

Langa blinked. Reki blinked.

“What's that?”

“Hm? Oh,  _ this? _ ” Much normal, very smooth. “This is uh … It's … well, you see … it's … paper.”

Paper?  _ PAPER?!  _ You know, right now a major head injury didn't sound too bad, actually.

“I can see that.”

“Right. Yeah. Of course you can. It's just … well, I mean, today's Valentine's Day and—”

“I know.”

“Right.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

A moment of silence, then Langa frowned. “Reki, what's going on?”

And if that damn letter was where Reki's dreams had gone to die, now was when the Grim Reaper himself would sweep him away, right? Because he was cornered. He could run himself in circles for ages if left to his own devices; Reki had maxed out skill points in 'awkward rambling'. But the moment Langa explicitly called him to action, that was it. The loop was shattered, Reki was set free, and so too would be his innermost worries and secrets. Because Langa cared. He had an odd way of showing it sometimes, often seeming aloof and maybe even a bit cold, like the Canadian winters he used to call home. But Reki saw behind it all to his best friend's heart, and it was as pure white as freshly snow-capped mountains.

And there was one thing Reki couldn't do more than anything else in the world.

He couldn't lie to Langa.

Reki's shoulders dropped, his head lowered, and he held out the paper ball. It disappeared from his hand. Crinkling filled the space between them. Then silence. A silence that lingered so long, Reki had to peek up at the other man before he combusted. But Langa's face gave nothing away. His eyes scanned the monstrosity, his expression impassive. And Reki had to body-slam the desire to demand some kind of reaction. Confusion, even anger, he could handle. But this? Waiting, entirely unaware of what was going through his best friend's mind?

“It's stupid, really,” and there he went, expertly showing off his skills again. “I just thought because today is today, and we all know what today means, and even though I'm not a girl and I don't have chocolates, but I know you're used to the Canadian version of today, so I figured breaking tradition wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I'm not even sure if you celebrate today, and I really shouldn't have assumed but remember all those energy drinks from this morning? Yeah, you were right, skipping breakfast was a horrible idea because—”

“Reki.”

He had to have at least a few cracked ribs from his never-ending racing heart at this point, right? “Yeah?”

“This is me, right?”

Frowning, Reki inched closer. Langa was pointing at one of the sketches along the margins. Wait, what? Really? He was holding the written equivalent of a crime scene, but instead of focusing on the blood splatters and evidence, he was admiring the painting on the wall? “Uh … yeah.”

“It's pretty good.”

Huh? “Did you … dude, did you read it?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, I mean, it's a bit hard to read with all the scratched out parts—”

Reki groaned. Of course. Damn it! In his haste to come clean and then to avoid doing just that, he forgot kanji is still a challenge for Langa. The universe was punishing him for falling in love with his best friend. Why let him get away with this the easy way when the fates could watch him writhe and squirm in agony while he choked on his own tongue? Yeah, a few minutes ago, the letter had been far from the 'easiest' option, but comparatively, it was a whole lot easier than forcing the damn words out of his mouth!

“Langa.”

“Reki.”

“Dude.”

“What?”

“It's Valentine's Day.”

“I know.”

Was it possible to die of embarrassment? Because Reki was positive he was a little to the left of doing just that. His gut was curling so hard, it was turning inside out. “Langa!” He grabbed the letter again and held it up between them. “This.”

“Yeah? The sketches really are nice.”

“Oh my God, no!” Tossing the paper aside, Reki grabbed Langa's arms and blurted, “Will you be my Valentine?!”

Silence. Langa and Reki held each other's gazes, time frozen in their little bubble while the rest of the student body moved around them. They were used to being in their own world, but this was different. The air was thick and it buzzed with uncertainty. Something shifted in Langa's eyes but the rest of his face remained unreadable. And Reki's heart was no longer trying to punch through his chest; it was trying to leap out of his throat.

“No.”

His stomach dropped. His gut twisted. His heart fell from his throat and shattered against the pavement of his soul. Reki released Langa's arms and stepped back. The paper on the floor was no longer his nightmare because now, he was living it.

Langa didn't want him.

Mind on a crash-course toward certain friendship-ending doom, Reki started to shake, began to sweat. Every breath was like taking in tiny shards of glass, scratching his lungs like the harsh strokes of the pen when he scribbled out line after line—

“But I'll be your boyfriend.”

Whoa, wait. What?!

“But you just said—”

“I don't want to be your Valentine because it's fleeting. It's for a single day. And it's only honoured once a year.” Langa's lips twitched into the soft smile Reki had come to know and love and damn near swoon over, and that alone started to glue the pieces of his heart back together. “But being your boyfriend … well, there's no limits on that.”

“B-but … we could break up.” Oh God, why couldn't he shut up? He wanted this!

“We could.” Langa shrugged. “But we take bigger risks every day, right?”

Reki jolted when a cool hand brushed his own, which seemed to surprise Langa because he pulled back. But Reki's own hand shot forward to grab his friend's, holding it tight. “Right.”

“So … we're in this together?”

And now, Reki didn't mind the intense thumping of his repaired heart. Fragile as it might be, the glue that now held it together was as strong as the bond they'd nurtured. The heart still wasn't meant to be risked, but if he could get through every fall and failure on a board with Langa at his side, surely he could get through the tangled mess of heated excitement and fluttering nervousness and pulsing hormones that rushed through him, too.

“Together.”

Because together, there were no limits.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked my first steps into the fandom! I don't know if I'll write for SK8 often (unless Venom and MadamRed convince me otherwise 😉), but I rather enjoyed working on this piece. If you'd also like to see more SK8 content from me too, though, please let me know! And now I'm curious, what do you think Reki drew in the margins? What do you think his attempts at poetry looked like? Hit me up with some 'monstrosities' in the comments, if you feel up for it! I'm always up for a good laugh.
> 
> If you want ask me questions, chat about the newest stories/chapters, or even just want to have a place to connect with other people in the several of the fandoms I call home, you are more than welcome to join me on [Discord](https://discord.gg/aFAtRpa)! You can also reach me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TaedaeNextrea) and [tumblr](https://taedae-nextrea.tumblr.com/).


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